Pat Barrett: I should have stayed at light-welterweight and challenged Julio Cesar Chavez

FORMER British and European light-welterweight ruler Pat Barrett is now enjoying the challenge of being both a trainer and a promoter. With the retirement of Brian Hughes, Pat is the main coach at The Moston and Collyhurst Lads Club in Manchester, and with โ€œBlack Flash Promotions,โ€ Barrett is finding his feet as a promoter.

Pat says his aim as a promoter is to do the very best for his fighters.

Q: When did you first become a promoter?

Pat Barrett: โ€œI worked with Wally Dixon, he gave me a start and I got Scott Quiggโ€™s career going. It was back then that I realised what I could do, to help these lads and get them to where they wanted to go. My main motivation as a promoter, it isnโ€™t about me or about money – I want to build these kids up, get them a following when theyโ€™re 5-0, 6-0, and then see which promoter can do the best for them; get them what they want and deserve.โ€

Q: When did you get your promoterโ€™s licence?

P.B: โ€œIt was about three years ago. It took so long because Brian Hughes, my trainer, always told me, that to become a good trainer or promoter you should work with a fighter right from the start and build them all the way up.โ€

Q: And how many shows have you done so far?

P.B: โ€œIโ€™ve done four shows as just the promoter, a card with Scott Quigg and a fight of Mike Jennings. Iโ€™ve helped the lads out. Iโ€™ve done Central Area title fights. The card in Octoberย  – October 25th, โ€œThe Homecomingโ€ featuring Matthew Hall – will be my biggest yet, because that is my show, just me promoting; Black Flash Promotions. Before, I was promoting in association with Wally Dixon. What Iโ€˜ve always wanted to do is produce my very own champions.โ€

Q: Do you have an opponent yet for Matthew Hall?

P.B: โ€œYeah, oh, whatโ€™s the guyโ€™s name! He fought Jimmy Kilrain Kelly. Anyway, Iโ€™ve got Matty back to how he used to be. Heโ€™s been sparring Ben Mulligan, and heโ€™s said to me, he canโ€™t believe how good he is. Iโ€™ve worked on his head movement and his body punching is awesome. Matty used to get by just on aggression, but heโ€™s learning again now, which is what he wanted. And Iโ€™ve told him he canโ€™t fight at middleweight any more, heโ€™s a light-middleweight and a very strong light-middleweight. Itโ€™s going to be a good show. Weโ€™ve also just added Tyson Furyโ€™s brother, his youngest brother, heโ€™s only 18.โ€

Q: And you have a relation of yours boxing on the card?

P.B: โ€œYeah, my nephew, Zelfa, heโ€™s a super-featherweight. What I want is for the lads to not have to worry about selling tickets. Some fighters, in the past, they worried so much about selling tickets and not being able to – Rhys Roberts for example – they were not able to perform in the fight, their head was elsewhere. Iโ€™ve got years of experience and out of my own way Iโ€™ve got sponsorship deals in place and we have sell-out shows. This show [on October 25th] itโ€™s 500 capacity and the tickets have all gone. I want these kids to build a following and then, after Iโ€™ve taken them as far as I can, go with any promoter in Manchester or in Britain and fight in bigger arenas.โ€

Q: Looking back on your own successful career, what would you change if you could go back and do it all again?

P.B: โ€œIโ€™d have listened more. My big problem was, I was like a wandering sheep. Brian Hughes was the best man for me, the best trainer, the best everything. At the start of my career, I was a journeyman. I had 20 fights in my first two years as a pro. But Brian believed in me and he gave me the confidence. He told me I could go to Italy and beat [Efrem] Calamati for the European title, and I said, โ€˜right, letโ€™s have the fight then.โ€™โ€

Q: People still talk about that KO of Calamati, you were awesome that night. Was that your best ever performance?

P.B: โ€œNo. You might laugh when I tell you what I think was my best, but it was when I knocked out Sugar Gibiliru. He had come to my gym when I was an amateur, and it was like what Bruce Lee said about having a nightmare about the worst fear you had. He [Gibiliru] was my fear. He was tough and he just took everything I hit him with. I boxed a draw with him in 1988, over eight-rounds, and that performance went far better than I thought it would, he didnโ€™t do what I thought heโ€™d do and that draw made me feel much better. Then Brian set up a rematch and I knocked him out in the 8th-round and that gave me all the confidence I needed.โ€

Q: You were a sensation at the time of the Calamati win, is it fair to say you never went as far as you should have gone?

P.B: โ€œI should never have moved up to welterweight, I was always a natural light-welterweight. And the [Julio Cesar] Chavez fight should have happened. I truly believe Iโ€™d have given him a really hard fight. I had that belief and that confidence. I was with Mickey Duff at the time I think, and there were a lot of broken promises. The Manning Galloway fight (for the WBO welterweight title), that fight was postponed four times, it was a joke. And I was thinking at the time that the fight was never going to happen. Had that fight gone ahead on the first scheduled date, Iโ€™d definitely have knocked him spark out.โ€

Q: After the October show, have you any other dates planned?

P.B: โ€œIโ€™m already working on that. I have plans for more shows next year. I think weโ€™ll quickly go from the 500 capacity shows to the bigger shows. Like I said, I want to build my own champions and get my kids a following.โ€

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